If stories are true about what he did I will pass on that. Cant see many of the old team mates turning out for this funeral.
Evening all. I'm not sure I agree that a 4-2-3-1 formation is too rigid, most of the top clubs play it. When you're on top it can morph into a 4-3-3 attacking formation and 4-5-1 when under pressure. To be honest, I'm more with the managers that say it's down to having better players than better formation, have that and "plan b" isn't necessary. Can't remember the manager but I liked his comment when asked about a plan b, his answer "plan b was to make plan a work"
Jammy, that is a very good point. If we don't it will look like a one off stab at the playoffs (due to the refund promise) rather than building a solid team for the autos if we fall short this year.
After Monk arrived he started getting rid of players he wasn't giving a chance too, some he didn't even see play, this led to me suspecting Monk only wants his signings in team plus any decent youth players as back up. To begin with Duke was scoring goals, then for some reason went a bit flat. Evans got him to one side and Duke seemed to be rejuvenated. Duke is still young, he has the quality and skills, and has shown he can score goals in championship, he's also a versatile player playing as a striker or on both wings. I'd like to see him given some game time from the whistle, or as a sub with decent time to play......
I'd disagree that Diagouraga faded. He simply had a stinker against QPR - as had most of the team, tbh. Didn't get the best pre-season either as he was played as a CB. Think Monk decided his future before he even seen him play. I heard from one of the coaching staff that he's a terrible trainer too, so that certainly won't have endeared him to Monk. I think it's a great pity.
WJ. Whatever the right or wrong of the situation (and from when I saw big Dave looked good to me) what manager doesn't prefer his signings? The reason they sign them is they think they're better than they have / fit in the game plan they want to play etc. It's nothing new.
two points from LL and Jocko ... Doukara isn't quality and doesn't possess much skill, he is a huge lad who should boss defenders, but he doesn't seem to have any fight in him ... add to this the fact that he can't jump or head the ball, and he's no good as a striker, so need to get rid and replace with someone better Diagouraga has faded Jocko, and by that I mean that, like Murphy, he has faded from the manager's selection thoughts ... if a player isn't putting it in on the training pitch, then there is probably no chance that Monk will select him, here's why ... firstly, chances are the player will take that half-hearted attitude onto the pitch, and that will create pressure in his position for opponents to exploit ... secondly, the players won't be happy seeing a non trier in training getting starts ahead of committed, hard workers this complete rubbish about Monk only selecting his favourites is frankly a cheap attack on a very good manager ... Monk is an intelligent bloke who understands what successful teams look like, and he most certainly won't risk his job by starting out of form players just because he signed them ... let's kill this "favourites" rubbish right here Green ... you want Silvestri/Turnbull in? remember, Turnbull is here more for his experience to help the younger keepers Ayling ... can't put Coyle ahead of him, the kid is still learning and his time will come, but not right now Bartley ... Cooper maybe, but such a good partnership going with Pontus Jansson ... yep, should definitely have kept Bamba and Bellusci and left this Viking clown at Torino Taylor ... a Monk favourite O'Kane ... massively improved our midfield Bridcutt/Phillips ... well, Monk badly wanted Bridcutt back and ensured everything possible was done to sign him ... in the past Cellino would have spat his dummy within a week of talks and labeled Bridcutt as a greedy fcuk who can stay at Sunderland ... Phillips still learning and will improve, and good to see Monk giving him starts to help his development Sacko ... Hernandez ... Dallas ... Wood ... oh look, Monk isn't selecting his signing Antonsson ahead of that useless lump masquerading as a goalscorer ... in fact, Monk should start Doukara and give him a five year contract the bottom line is that Monk has added better players to our squad and cut the bad ones ... if there were clubs interested in Diagouraga and Murphy, even as loans, they would have been gone as well ... Monk is developing a team that is starting to believe in themselves, a team that can play and that seems to be together ... he is most certainly not going to get far if he only plays his signings and alienates half of the dressing room Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Trouble is, half of your team that finished the Wigan game are only on loan - not exactly forward planning is it!!
Half TC,wasn't it 3 players that finished the match that were on loan ? and one of them has a signs permanent after 20 games contract.Do you have a problem with maths ?
Must admit can't match Millwall for forward planning heading for relegation and already got a team full of L2 players
Hey'up Billy, I think you got hold of wrong end of stick, but I respect your opinions and comments....... My whole point with Monk, and I wasn't the only one to say it, was the fact he was getting rid of players at the beginning before he even saw what they could do on field, this obviously showed he was only going to be interested in his own signings. I did say before the season started I hope he's not one to play his favourites, and I still say he is; it had nothing to do with any individual players back then. Don't get me wrong, between Monk, Pep and Cellino, they've brought in some good players, and some stand out players, the team is playing better passing football and we're doing well after a bad start, but there's still a long way to go yet, and better teams to play, plus the second half of season is going to tell a few stories, good or bad. What I write is my opinion/s, what Jock writes are his opinions, what others write are their opinions, and what you write are your opinions, we all see things differently, and at times we see things similar or the same. Monk said at the beginning Duke has a part to play in his team/plans, so Duke must be showing Monk something for Monk to say that. You have your opinion on Duke, me and others have ours, whether they're same or different. I doubt Sacko is going to be here after his loan period, unless we renegotiate his loan again, not with a 54 million quid buy out clause. Jansson and Hernandez are set to sign on permanently, I read there's a blip in Bartley's loan to permanent move at moment however, they all have a big part to play this season. You say Monk is an intelligent bloke who knows what he's doing, but same/similar was said about Grayson (once touted as an England manager) same/similar was said about McDermott, Redfearn, Rosler, Evans. I respect your opinion however, it does beg the question, why didn't he do it at Swansea? having said that, one mans poison is another man's meat so to speak. My penduluum isn't swinging 100% Monks way, but it is over 50%, however, for me there's something that isn't right, but that's cos I analyse, and probably deeper than others; I don't always get the analysis right either. Monk claimed he knew how to prepare a squad for start of season, we had a bad start, his subbings aren't the best, many were confused by his subbings against Wigan; during his post match interviews after a loss or draw he seems a little nervous and doesn't come across as really knowing what the problems were. He defended his substitutions against Wigan; he may well learn from it and make his subbing better in near future, we'll have to wait and see. Monk claims Berardi has to fight his way back into team, granted Ayling is playing well, but I think Berardi edges him, what's going to be interesting is to see whether he slots Bridcutt straight back in, or makes him fight for his place; and that goes for anyone coming back from an injury. I'm not a big fan of the lone striker formation, that's no secret, and I'm not the only one. We've had the lone striker formation for most of the last two seasons, and we're still not scoring continual multiple goals, we're still not putting multiple shots at goal, after 13 games we're still on -2 goal difference, and we're still in championship, may well be that Monk breaks the barrier and gets us promoted using the lone striker formation, we'll have to wait and see. More and more people are posting longer detailed posts/comments based on how they individually see things, great to see, great for the forum and much better for friendly conversation/debate, however, it also opens doors for more agreements and disagreements, and sharing and not sharing someone else's opinion/s...... Don't get me wrong Billy, I'm on Monk's side, but when I put everything in the pot, starting with his Swansea days, he hasn't fully convinced me yet, especially after the other manager coaches/we've had.
My opinion. Jocks opinions are based on knowledge your are gained from other peoples opinions... As a failed army goalkeeper your thoughts on the merits of players you have never seen and the formations used arnt worth the steam of my ****. Just sayin....
